Two ways to "do" in a church
I'm starting this blog back up again and this is the only fanfare for it.
"You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace." Gal 5.4
"So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.... But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law" Gal 5.16, 18
There are two ways to do things in a church. Well, actually, there are two ways to do things in the Christian life. There is the grace-based way, and the works-righteousness-based way.
The works-righteousness-based way does things in order to secure salvation, whereas the grace-based way does things as a reaction to being saved. Those who do things by a works-righteousness framework are seeking to be justified by their works. There are two different ways you can do this. One is, you do things in order to earn the love of God. The thinking behind it is basically, "If I do this consistently, then my relationship with God will be right." Ex: If I just go to church every week, if I pray and read the Bible regularly, because I heard that God likes that, if I try to do fewer selfish things, if I talk about Jesus all the time, wear a cross necklace, and make the bulk of my social circle Christians, then I will be right with God. The other way to do works-righteousness stuff is to do things in order to establish or prove your love for God. Now this way is a fair deal more sinister, because it is a sinful heart condition masquerading as a godly motivation. This method basically says, "I am doing this in order to prove, either to myself or to others or to God himself, that I love God." What makes it sinful is the second part that is implicitly tacked on: "...because if I love God this much, then he'll have to love me back and accept me.
What the two have in common is that both presume that the individual needs to initiate a love relationship between God. I need to make an effort, I need to go first and open a relationship with God, I cannot face God before I get this part of my life straight, etc. The problem is that no amount of righteous deeds can cover up this sinful heart of mine. For someone who operated under the works-righteousness framework (or as Paul says in Galatians, "seeking to be justified by the law", Gal 3.10-12), there are only two outcomes: self-deceived pride as I make myself think that I am doing just fine by my own efforts, or inescapable despair as I realize just how sinful I am and my inability to get rid of my guilt just by doing
Come ye weary, heavy-ladened
Lost and ruined by the fall
If you tarry, 'til you're better
You will never come at all
The grace-based way of doing things is when I realize that I am not made right before God by my own efforts, but by what Christ has done for me. In the grace-based way of doing things, I do them not because I want to earn my salvation, but because I already have salvation. Those who live this way say, "I do this stuff because I know that God loves me through Jesus and I am so overwhelmed, so taken, so changed, so transformed by the reality of that love that I respond in obedience." People who do things this way do not so much establish or create their love for God through deeds, but merely express their love for God, a love that was created as a result of God's first love for us. The key difference is that God initiated, not me (1 John 4.19).
The problem in church is not so much that we actively encourage a works-righteousness-based framework for doing ministry or serving; it is that we are passive in our teaching of grace. The human heart, when left to its own devices, ALWAYS gravitates back to the works-righteousness framework of faith. This is true even of seasoned ministry workers and Christians. Take church announcements for example. Say, I want to make a church announcement about doing a short-term summer missions to university students. I can do it this way:
"Let me encourage you all to seriously consider doing summer missions! There are so many opportunities out there; you can go to another country like Taiwan or Malaysia, or you can stay local and do a mission somewhere in another state. We're all uni students and we've got lots of time and this is the best way to redeem that time for the kingdom! You know here in Sydney (or NY), we take for granted the freedom to worship God and all the great teaching about the Bible that we get here, but out in other places, they don't even have Bibles. I went last year and I had so much fun and made so many new friends who were so passionate about the gospel... what could be more fun that hanging out with other Christians who are on fire for Jesus?"
Do you see what's going on there? What are the reasons I gave you to do summer mission?
1) It's a great way to invest your time in heavenly treasures as a university student
2) Lots of places outside of home need to badly hear the gospel preached.
3) Being with other passionate Christians is a great experience.
Now here's the astounding thing. None of those reasons are wrong or even bad. They can all fall either into a works-righteousness framework of doing, OR a grace-based framework. But for an average young Christian who is trying to work out what the Christian life looks like, which framework do you think he'll gravitate to?
If you don't give the grace of God as a reason, it doesn't matter how many other reasons that you give that are really good. Chances are, the average Christian will only come away thinking, "Wow, if I want to be a real Christian, I better go on summer mission sometime", and that's only a short step away from, "I'm an alright Christian. My relationship with God is just fine, because I went to summer mission last year. I'm doing my part, so I should be fine", which is only a short logical leap from the mentality that, "It's what I do that saves me."
So the application point here is, when you teach other Christians, never neglect to mention grace. Do not take it for granted. It can be anything from plugging your missions team to asking people to help out for an outreach event, to teaching your disciple how to be servant-minded, to preaching a sermon to writing a Bible study to having a godly conversation with a Christian brother or sister. Any time you tell someone to "do", give them grace as a reason.. It may sound forced the first few times you try it, but it's better to awkwardly mention grace than to coolly lead someone down a path of works. Here's an example of how I'd give an announcement about doing summer mission:
"One of the things about life is that joy is not make complete until it is shared. Isn't it true that one of your first impulses when you receive good news is to find somebody to tell? Well, this same principle holds true for the Christian life. That is why Jesus says to "go and make disciples of all nations..."; the reality that he is the risen King is so great that the disciples couldn't have kept it to themselves even if he tried! Well, if you're someone who is likewise so blown away by the good news of Jesus that you want to share it with someone, then let me tell you about summer missions...."
The whole idea is to make clear that, "If you're feeling so moved by the love of God and the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ, given to you so undeservingly and expressed through the cross, then let me tell you how you can express that joy!"
This is a MUST-DO in all our churches, in all our ministries, and in all the ways that we teach, disciple, and work for the kingdom of God. If we are not serious and intentional about this, we'll end up with a bunch of shallow Christians keeping our churches going but who ditch the work of the gospel the instant that the going gets tough or the going gets boring. Or we'll end up with a bunch of Christians who lack the assurance of salvation and frantically do thing after thing in the hopes that at the end of their life they'll muster just enough works to get into the gates of heaven but secretly in their heart no that it is not possible.
Come ye sinners, poor and needy
Weak and wounded, sick and sore
Jesus, ready stands to save you
Full of pity, love, and power
-Dan
"You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace." Gal 5.4
"So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.... But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law" Gal 5.16, 18
There are two ways to do things in a church. Well, actually, there are two ways to do things in the Christian life. There is the grace-based way, and the works-righteousness-based way.
The works-righteousness-based way does things in order to secure salvation, whereas the grace-based way does things as a reaction to being saved. Those who do things by a works-righteousness framework are seeking to be justified by their works. There are two different ways you can do this. One is, you do things in order to earn the love of God. The thinking behind it is basically, "If I do this consistently, then my relationship with God will be right." Ex: If I just go to church every week, if I pray and read the Bible regularly, because I heard that God likes that, if I try to do fewer selfish things, if I talk about Jesus all the time, wear a cross necklace, and make the bulk of my social circle Christians, then I will be right with God. The other way to do works-righteousness stuff is to do things in order to establish or prove your love for God. Now this way is a fair deal more sinister, because it is a sinful heart condition masquerading as a godly motivation. This method basically says, "I am doing this in order to prove, either to myself or to others or to God himself, that I love God." What makes it sinful is the second part that is implicitly tacked on: "...because if I love God this much, then he'll have to love me back and accept me.
What the two have in common is that both presume that the individual needs to initiate a love relationship between God. I need to make an effort, I need to go first and open a relationship with God, I cannot face God before I get this part of my life straight, etc. The problem is that no amount of righteous deeds can cover up this sinful heart of mine. For someone who operated under the works-righteousness framework (or as Paul says in Galatians, "seeking to be justified by the law", Gal 3.10-12), there are only two outcomes: self-deceived pride as I make myself think that I am doing just fine by my own efforts, or inescapable despair as I realize just how sinful I am and my inability to get rid of my guilt just by doing
Come ye weary, heavy-ladened
Lost and ruined by the fall
If you tarry, 'til you're better
You will never come at all
The grace-based way of doing things is when I realize that I am not made right before God by my own efforts, but by what Christ has done for me. In the grace-based way of doing things, I do them not because I want to earn my salvation, but because I already have salvation. Those who live this way say, "I do this stuff because I know that God loves me through Jesus and I am so overwhelmed, so taken, so changed, so transformed by the reality of that love that I respond in obedience." People who do things this way do not so much establish or create their love for God through deeds, but merely express their love for God, a love that was created as a result of God's first love for us. The key difference is that God initiated, not me (1 John 4.19).
The problem in church is not so much that we actively encourage a works-righteousness-based framework for doing ministry or serving; it is that we are passive in our teaching of grace. The human heart, when left to its own devices, ALWAYS gravitates back to the works-righteousness framework of faith. This is true even of seasoned ministry workers and Christians. Take church announcements for example. Say, I want to make a church announcement about doing a short-term summer missions to university students. I can do it this way:
"Let me encourage you all to seriously consider doing summer missions! There are so many opportunities out there; you can go to another country like Taiwan or Malaysia, or you can stay local and do a mission somewhere in another state. We're all uni students and we've got lots of time and this is the best way to redeem that time for the kingdom! You know here in Sydney (or NY), we take for granted the freedom to worship God and all the great teaching about the Bible that we get here, but out in other places, they don't even have Bibles. I went last year and I had so much fun and made so many new friends who were so passionate about the gospel... what could be more fun that hanging out with other Christians who are on fire for Jesus?"
Do you see what's going on there? What are the reasons I gave you to do summer mission?
1) It's a great way to invest your time in heavenly treasures as a university student
2) Lots of places outside of home need to badly hear the gospel preached.
3) Being with other passionate Christians is a great experience.
Now here's the astounding thing. None of those reasons are wrong or even bad. They can all fall either into a works-righteousness framework of doing, OR a grace-based framework. But for an average young Christian who is trying to work out what the Christian life looks like, which framework do you think he'll gravitate to?
If you don't give the grace of God as a reason, it doesn't matter how many other reasons that you give that are really good. Chances are, the average Christian will only come away thinking, "Wow, if I want to be a real Christian, I better go on summer mission sometime", and that's only a short step away from, "I'm an alright Christian. My relationship with God is just fine, because I went to summer mission last year. I'm doing my part, so I should be fine", which is only a short logical leap from the mentality that, "It's what I do that saves me."
So the application point here is, when you teach other Christians, never neglect to mention grace. Do not take it for granted. It can be anything from plugging your missions team to asking people to help out for an outreach event, to teaching your disciple how to be servant-minded, to preaching a sermon to writing a Bible study to having a godly conversation with a Christian brother or sister. Any time you tell someone to "do", give them grace as a reason.. It may sound forced the first few times you try it, but it's better to awkwardly mention grace than to coolly lead someone down a path of works. Here's an example of how I'd give an announcement about doing summer mission:
"One of the things about life is that joy is not make complete until it is shared. Isn't it true that one of your first impulses when you receive good news is to find somebody to tell? Well, this same principle holds true for the Christian life. That is why Jesus says to "go and make disciples of all nations..."; the reality that he is the risen King is so great that the disciples couldn't have kept it to themselves even if he tried! Well, if you're someone who is likewise so blown away by the good news of Jesus that you want to share it with someone, then let me tell you about summer missions...."
The whole idea is to make clear that, "If you're feeling so moved by the love of God and the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ, given to you so undeservingly and expressed through the cross, then let me tell you how you can express that joy!"
This is a MUST-DO in all our churches, in all our ministries, and in all the ways that we teach, disciple, and work for the kingdom of God. If we are not serious and intentional about this, we'll end up with a bunch of shallow Christians keeping our churches going but who ditch the work of the gospel the instant that the going gets tough or the going gets boring. Or we'll end up with a bunch of Christians who lack the assurance of salvation and frantically do thing after thing in the hopes that at the end of their life they'll muster just enough works to get into the gates of heaven but secretly in their heart no that it is not possible.
Come ye sinners, poor and needy
Weak and wounded, sick and sore
Jesus, ready stands to save you
Full of pity, love, and power
-Dan
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